Reconfiguring Gendered Power in Families Through Men's Emotions

Abstract

This article calls for a fundamental theoretical shift from masculinity to men as embodied, emotional, and reflexive agents. Such a shift makes gendered power visible as men enact, reproduce, and at times unsettle gendered power within families, addressing the persistent theoretical challenge about how masculinities are discussed. Drawing on insights from sociology and feminist scholarship, we argue that men's emotions are the very site through which men reimagine and potentially reconfigure male power and privilege within family systems. However, essentialist assumptions in research on men and women obscure our ability to examine men's emotions in relation to systems of power. To address these limitations, we propose reconceptualizing agency as reflexive through the material discursive framework, and extending the unit of analysis to linked lives through life course theory. By centering men's embodied emotions and reflexive engagement, family science can identify more equitable futures in families.